Collapsible rocking chair

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus are provided in which a collapsible rocking chair has legs that translate towards and away from each other to configure the chair between open and collapsed dispositions, and at least one leg that slidably articulates with a rocker. Preferred embodiments have four legs. The left back leg slidably articulates with a left rocker, and the right back leg slidably articulates with a right rocker. The front legs are pivotally coupled to the respective rockers at fixed points. The back frame is preferably coupled to the left and right legs at pivots, allowing the back to approximate the seat during folding. Both back and seat are preferably formed from a fabric material, and more preferably from a single continuous piece of fabric. Preferred rocking chairs also include left and right armrests, supported at least in part by the back frame.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention is collapsible furniture.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Folding chairs have been known for many years, if not centuries. Thedistinguishing feature is that the chair can be manipulated between afolded disposition in which the back is pivoted to approximate the seat,and an open disposition in which the back is disposed more or lessperpendicular to the seat.

Many different types of folding chairs are known, including rockingchairs. U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,926 to Brunn (February 1989), for example,depicts a folding rocking chair in which the back legs are pivotedagainst the rockers, and the front legs slide along the rockers towardsthe back leg/rocker pivots to approximate the seat and legs to therockers. The folding rockers of U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,152 (December 1997)and Des 380633 (July 1997), both to Shaw, provide legs that arereleasably engaged with the respective rockers, and that mate withchannels to provide a sliding relationship among the legs. U.S. Pat. No.3,114,572 to Hopkins (December 1963) depicts a folding rocking chair inwhich the back legs are fixed in position with respect to the rockers,and front legs that are pivotally disposed with respect to the rockers.

More recently collapsible chairs have gained widespread attention.Collapsible chairs are different from folding chairs in that the legscan be manipulated to approximate each other in close parallel orsubstantially parallel relationship. The back may optionally foldagainst the seat, but such motion is not necessarily included incollapsible chairs. U.S. Pat. No. 3,124,387 to Maclaren (March 1964)depicts an early collapsible chair in which the seat and back are formedfrom a continuous piece of fabric. These are so-called sling typechairs. There have been many other designs over the years, includinghinged lawn chairs such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,650 toBerman et al. (December 1987), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,950 to Mann(October 1991).

Approximating the legs, seat frame, and back is a relatively complicatedbusiness, primarily because in the open disposition, the seat must bemore or less perpendicular to both the legs and the back. Rocking chairsadd rockers as yet additional perpendicular elements, which increase thecomplexity still further. This may be why rocking chairs are widelyknown to fold, but only rarely known to be collapsible. One referencethat does describe a collapsible rocking chair is U.S. Pat. No.4,685,725 to Helfrich (August 1987). Helfrich collapses his rockingchair by pivoting the rockers B, B′ against all four legs of the chair,(see specification at col. 10, lines 55–60, and FIGS. 16, 50, 51).Unfortunately, that solution yields a very bulky product because much ofthe length of the rockers necessarily extends out beyond the legs in thecollapsed disposition.

Thus, there is a continuing need to provide novel methods and apparatusfor collapsible rocking chairs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides methods and apparatus in which acollapsible rocking chair has legs that translate towards and away fromeach other to configure the chair between open and collapseddispositions, and at least one leg that slidably articulates with arocker.

Preferred embodiments have four legs. The left back leg slidablyarticulates with a left rocker, and the right back leg slidablyarticulates with a right rocker. The front legs are pivotally coupled tothe respective rockers at fixed points. The back frame is preferablycoupled to the left and right legs at pivots, allowing the back toapproximate the seat during folding. Both back and seat are preferablyformed from a fabric material, and more preferably from a singlecontinuous piece of fabric. Preferred rocking chairs also include leftand right armrests, supported at least in part by the back frame.

Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with theaccompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a collapsible rocking chair according toa preferred embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the collapsible rocking chair of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the collapsible rocking chair of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the collapsible rocking chair of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the collapsible rocking chair of FIG. 1 in acollapsed disposition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In FIGS. 1–4 a rocking chair 10 generally has a seat 12A, a back 12B,arms 11, 37, legs 15, 17, 29, 30, leg support frame elements 20, 21, 26,27, and back support frame elements 13, 31.

The seat 12A is positioned by back frame elements 13 and 31, legs 15,17, 29, 30, and leg support frame elements 20, 21, 26, 27. The back 12Bis positioned by back frame elements 13 and 31, legs 17, 30, and legsupport frame elements 26, 27. The seat 12A and back 12B are bothadvantageously made from a material that is very flexible, while havingsufficient strength and durability to accommodate expected use. It isespecially useful if the material dries rapidly, and is relatively easyto clean. Preferred materials include natural material fabrics such asprocessed cotton, rayon, and so forth, as well as plastic or othersynthetic materials, including rip stop nylon. One or both of the seat12A and back 12B may be colored in an interesting pattern, or containsome sort of logo or other image. In particularly preferred embodimentsthe seat 12A and back 12B are portions of the same piece of material,and form a sling type seatback. Dimensions are contemplated to beordinary dimensions for a rocking chair, where the seat 12A is about oneand a half to three two feet off the ground, and between one and a halfto two feet both in width and depth.

The back support frame elements 13, 31 are movable towards and away fromeach other by pivoting of the corresponding legs about pivots 24, 28.The back support frame elements 13, 31 must, of course, be strong enoughto keep the back 12B from bending excessively when a person leans backin the chair 10.

The leg support frame elements 20, 21 are joined by an intermediatepivot 24, and the leg support frame elements 26, 27 are joined byanother intermediate pivot 28. Pivots 24, 28 are considered to beintermediate because they are disposed between the ends of the joinedframe elements, rather than at their ends. Left legs 15, 17 are joinedby pivot 23, and right legs 29, 30 are joined by pivot 25. Other pivots18, 22, 24, 28, 35, 36 couple elements as shown in the figures.

It will thus be appreciated that a collapsible rocking chair mayadvantageously comprise: a seat supported at least in part by a left legand a right leg, at least one of which is slidably articulated with arocker; wherein the left and right legs are coupled by a frame thataccommodates translation of the left and right legs towards and awayfrom one another. Additional legs are contemplated, including at leastone additional leg that is not slidably articulated with the rocker.While it is contemplated to have a chair with other than 4 legs, andeven a four legged chair in which the sliding legs are in the frontrather than in the back, it is especially preferred that the chair havefour legs, in which the left and rights back legs are slidablyarticulated with the left and right rockers, respectively, and the leftand right front legs are pivotally coupled to the left and right rockersat a joint that is not movable, or at least not readily movable withrespect to the left and right rockers, respectively. Nevertheless, inalternative embodiments one or both of the front legs may also beslidable with respect to the rockers. In other alternative embodimentsthe chair need not be symmetrical with respect to a vertical planepassing front to back through the center of the chair.

The various legs and support frame elements can be made of any suitablematerial, and preferably a material that is both strong and lightweight.Aluminum and stainless steel are preferred for these reasons, althoughwood, plastics, composites, and other materials are also contemplated.Materials that do not rust, or at least are rust resistant, arepreferred. The legs and support frame elements are of suitable lengthsto produce desirable overall dimensions of the chair 10. They are alsopreferably round and hollow to achieve desirable strength to weightratios, although other cross-sectional shapes such as oblong orrectangular are also contemplated. Protective and/or decorative coatingsare also contemplated.

The back legs 15, 29, are slidably articulated with rockers 14, 32 atsliding articulations 16, 34, respectively. The front legs 17, 30 arenot slidably articulated with the rockers, and are instead pivotallycoupled to the rockers 14, 32 at joints 19, 33, respectively. Althoughit is contemplated that any of the back and front legs may be releasablyengaged with the respective rockers, in preferred embodiments the all ofthe legs are non-releasably engaged with the respective rockers

The various pivots 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 33, 35, 36, as well assliding articulations 16, 34, may comprise any suitable materials orcombinations of materials, including metals, plastics, composites, andso forth. Plastics with plastic or metal pins are especially preferred.Preferred pivots are engineered to withstand expected weight loads,repeated movement, and to operate satisfactorily in sandy or dirtyenvironments without lubrication or excessive cleaning.

In terms of support, the drawings should be interpreted herein such thatthe seat is supported by the left and right legs, and the left and rightarmrests are supported at least in part by the back frame.

FIG. 5 depicts the collapsible rocking chair 10 in a collapsed. This isachieved by sliding the sliding articulations 16, 34 along rockers 14,32 toward rocker pivot joints 19, 33, respectively. This in turn causesthe left and right pairs of legs 15, 17 and 29, 30 to pivot against eachother at pivots 23, 25, respectively. The chair 10 can then be furthercollapsed by pushing the left legs 15, 17 and right legs 29, 30 towardseach other. An interesting aspect of FIG. 5 is that it shows that in thecollapsed disposition, the legs 13, 15, 17, 20 do not extend outlengthwise beyond the rocker 14.

In operation, a preferred rocking chair is thus configurable between anopen disposition in which the left and right rockers are disposedsubstantially under the left and right legs, respectively, and acollapsed disposition in which the left and right legs do not extendlengthwise beyond the left and right rockers. Viewed from anotherperspective, the rocking chair 10 is preferably configurable between anopen disposition in which the sliding articulation is relatively fartherfrom the fixed position and a collapsed disposition in which the slidingarticulation is relatively closer to the fixed position.

It should also be appreciated that a novel method of collapsing arocking chair comprises: providing the chair 10 with a first leg 15 thatslides against a rocker 14 at first joint 16; providing the chair with asecond leg 17 that pivots against the rocker 14 at a second joint 19;and manipulating the chair in a manner that reduces a distance betweenthe first and second joints. The method may advantageously also providethe first and second legs 15, 17 with a mutual pivot such as thatdepicted as pivot 23. In another aspect, a preferred method may providethe chair with a third leg 30, and a pivoting frame 20, 21 that couplesthe second and third legs, and pivoting the frame at pivot 24 to bringthe second and third legs closer together. In another aspect, apreferred method may provide a back frame 13 that pivots against thefirst leg 15 at pivot 18.

Thus, specific methods and apparatus for collapsible rocking chairs havebeen disclosed. It should be apparent, however, to those skilled in theart that many more modifications besides those described are possiblewithout departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventivesubject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spiritof the appended claims.

1. A collapsible rocking chair comprising: a seat supported at least inpart by a left leg and a right leg, wherein the left leg is slidablyarticulated with a left rocker, and the right leg is slidablyarticulated with a right rocker; wherein the left and right legs arecoupled by a frame that accommodates translation of the left and rightlegs towards and away from one another such that the chair collapses ina side-to-side motion; wherein the seat moves along the frame when theleft and right legs move towards and away from one another; and whereinthe chair is configurable between an open disposition in which the leftand right rockers are disposed substantially under the left and rightlegs, respectively, and a collapsed disposition in which the left andright legs do not extend lengthwise beyond the left and right rockers.2. The rocking chair of claim 1 further comprising at least oneadditional leg that is not slidably articulated with the rocker.
 3. Therocking chair of claim 1 further comprising a fabric seat supported bythe left and right legs.
 4. The rocking chair of claim 1 furthercomprising at least one additional leg that is not slidably articulatedwith any of the rockers.
 5. The rocking chair of claim 1 furthercomprising at least one additional left leg that is pivotally coupled tothe left rocker, and not slidably articulated with any of the rockers.6. The rocking chair of claim 1 further comprising a back frame having aleft side and a right side that are movable towards and away from eachother.
 7. The rocking chair of claim 1 wherein the frame coupling theleft and right legs comprises at least two members coupled at anintermediate pivot.
 8. The rocking chair of claim 1 wherein the left legis slidably articulated with the left rocker at a sliding articulation,and another left leg is pivotally coupled with the left rocker at afixed position.
 9. The rocking chair of claim 8 wherein the chair isconfigurable between an open disposition in which the slidingarticulation is relatively farther from the fixed position and acollapsed disposition in which the sliding articulation is relativelycloser to the fixed position.
 10. The rocking chair of claim 1 furthercomprising a back frame coupled to the left leg at a first pivot and theright leg at a second pivot.
 11. The rocking chair of claim 10 furthercomprising a fabric back positioned by the back frame.
 12. The rockingchair of claim 11 further comprising a fabric seat supported by the leftand right legs, and continuous with the fabric back.
 13. The rockingchair of claim 12 further comprising left and right armrests supportedat least in part by the back frame.
 14. A collapsible rocking chaircomprising: a seat supported at least in part by a left leg and a rightleg, wherein the left leg is slidably articulated with a left rocker,and the right leg is slidably articulated with a right rocker; whereinthe left and right legs are coupled by a frame that accommodatestranslation of the left and right legs towards and away from one anothersuch that the chair collapses in a side-to-side and front-to-back motionwhen (a) the left and right legs pivot towards the left and rightrockers, respectively, and (b) the seat moves along the frame.
 15. Amethod of collapsing a rocking chair, comprising: providing the chairwith a seat, a back, and a first leg that slides against a rocker at afirst joint; providing the chair with a second leg that pivots againstthe rocker at a second joint; and manipulating the chair in a mannerthat (a) reduces a distance between the first and second joints and (b)pivots the back towards the rocker to thereby collapse the chair in aside-to-side collapsing motion when the seat approximates the back. 16.The method of claim 15, further comprising: providing the chair with aback frame that pivots against the first leg.
 17. The method of claim15, further comprising providing the first and second legs with a mutualpivot.
 18. The method of claim 15, further comprising: providing thechair with a third leg, and a pivoting frame that couples the second andthird legs, and pivoting the frame to bring the second and third legscloser together.